The class of polymers of carbon monoxide and olefin(s) has been known for a number of years. Brubaker, U.S. Pat. No. 2,495,286, produced such polymers of relatively low carbon monoxide content in the presence of free radical initiators, e.g., peroxy compounds. U.K. Pat. No. 1,081,304 produces similar polymers of a higher carbon monoxide content in the presence of alkylphosphine complexes of palladium as catalyst. Nozaki extended the reaction to produce linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and olefins in the presence of triarylphosphine complexes of palladium moieties and certain inert solvents. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,412.
More recently, the class of linear alternating polymers of carbon monoxide and at least one ethylenically unsaturated hydrocarbon has become of greater interest in part because of the greater availability of the polymers. The more recent general processes for the production of such polymers is illustrated by a number of published European Patent Applications including 121,965 and 181,014 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,786,714 and 4,788,279. The process generally involves the use of a catalyst composition formed from a salt of a Group VIII metal selected from palladium, cobalt or nickel, the anion of a non-hydrohalogenic acid having a pKa less than about 6 and a bidentate ligand of phosphorous, arsenic, antimony or nitrogen.
The resulting polymers, now commonly known as polyketones or polyketone polymers, are relatively high molecular weight materials having established utility as thermoplastics in the production of shaped articles by the methods conventionally employed with thermoplastics.
The polyketone polymers, by virtue of the presence of carbonyl groups, are converted into other types of polymer to modify the properties of the polyketone. The carbonyl groups undergo a number of broadly conventional reactions to produce polymeric derivatives such as polyols, polythiols and polyamines. It is desirable, on occasion, to provide polyketone-type polymers with carbon-carbon unsaturation to enable the polymer to be crosslinked or further functionalized. Attempts to introduce unsaturation within the polyketone polymers as by catalytic reduction of the carbonyl groups to hydroxyl groups followed by dehydration have not been entirely successful because of the undesirable side reactions that take place which alter the linear character of the polymer. It would be of advantage to provide novel polyketone polymers which incorporate carbon-carbon unsaturation and a process of producing such linear alternating polymers.